NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 235, 3 October 1936, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Not a Public Meeting. It has been ruled by the Crown Law Office that the proceedings of the Wellington Education Board do not constitute a public meeting. The Press and representatives of the public may attend "open meetings" of the board only by courtesy, and no obligation is on the board to make public any of its .proceedings. A Gracious Act. The action of the two captains in the Southland-Australia Rugby game at Invercargill (N. A. Mitchell, Southland, and R. T. Walden, Australia) in noticing an invalid girl near the entrance to the playing field at Rugby Park was not lost on the crowd in the stand. When the teams returned to the field at half-time both captains stopped by the girl's chair and chatted with her. It was a gracious interlude, made all the more gracious when the Australian mascot, a koala bear, was left in safe keeping with her. Cleaned Out by Starlings. When the secretary of the Woodville Gun Club entered the clubhouse recently he discovered that starlings had found a small hole in the roof and entered the building, no doubt with the intention of building a nest. Apparently the birds sorted out a box on a shelf as a likely-looking nest, but unfortunately this box contained between 300 and 400 small metal clips about half an inch wide and one inch and a half lone;:, the clips bein<* used for marking on the cl.ib's score board. Showing unusual persistence, the birds emptied all but two of these out of the box, and in a search later outside the clubhouse clips were found on the ground as far as 100 yards away, about half of those missing being picked up. An Expensive Letter. Unstamped postal matter, especially from foreign countries, is liable to be fairly expensive to the man to whom it is sent, as one Blenheim business man has discovered to his cost. The iettcr in question was one from an ex-resident of the town, Mr. D. S. Weir, who is now on his way to take over a position in the Falkland Islands. On his way Home Mr. Weir thoughtfully posted a letter at Vigo, a port in Spain, on which he placed a shilling stamp and sent it by air mail. Actually the charge for air mail carriage turned out to be 1/3 per half-ounce, and as the letter weighed 2Joz its cost should have been 0/3. A shilling from that amount leaves 5/3, and doubled, • the penalty for short postage, it comes to 10/0, which was the amount the recipient had to pay when he took delivery. He is now gaining | some soJace for the infliction through planning a scheme for having his revenge. <

Scots Hall Closing. Used for many years for all kinds of entertainment, for flower shows and for meetings, .Scots Hall, Symonds Street, is shortly to be converted to commercial uses. The last function will lie held in the hall to-night by the St. Aiidrew's Society, which has early associations with the building. Scots Hall was built 12 years ago by the late Mr. J. M. Mennie, who died shortly afterwards. It was originally intended that it should be used by the St. Andrew's Society, but it became a public hall and was used for dances, concerts and similar purposes. Now the hall is to be almost completely rebuilt by its purchasers, Messrs. Smith and Brown, Ltd., and there will be a frontage of three storeys. The plans provide for modern display windows in Symonds Street, and there will be 45,000 square feet of floor sp.ace, making the premises among the largest in the Dominion devoted to retail furnishing. Great and Glorious. Great and glorious days, when the gallantry of the men of New Zealand was flashed over the world* will be remember,r<J ifto-morrow with the nineteenth anniversary of the .beginning of the main phase of the New Zealand Division's engagement at Passcliendaele. Truly "glorious Were those days, memorable in New Zealand history, and to turn back to the newspaper. files of the time one realises something of the jubilation and the pride with -which accounts of the Anzacs' leading part was received. "New Zealanders Take Gravenstafel. . . . The New Zealanders, greatly to their delight, were in the 'show,' and they captured the village of Gravenstafel, north-east of Ypres, successfully beating off two counter-attacks." This was just a prelude, however, to the attack on Bellevue Spur, when the troops floundered in the darkness through sticky mud. New Zealand's share in the battle culminated in the disastrous fighting of October 12, 1917; heavy losses were suffered then with magnificent heroism.

Floral Rarities. Green ranunculi, a distinct novelty in the realm of outdoor flowers, met with a ready sale in a Queen Street department store yesterday. They were- sold in plants, and customers had the choicc between those already in bloom and those in bud. The flowers were of moderate size, but very healthy looking, the outer rim of petals being of the ordinary red and yellow tints, hut the centre a solid mass of a delicate natural green. A correspondent mentions that two summers ago a Manurewa resident succeeded in producing a green-tinted ro; but the variety proved unusually susceptible to the attacks of aphis (green fivi and did not thrive. One of the most interesting floral novelti 's ever produced locally was a crop of pansfiea at Mount Albert, which could fairly be described as black. They had been propagated over a period of five seasons from the darkest flowers of a deep blue variety, and the bloom on the petals of the best was as black as soot, and just as devoid of gleam or lustre. The tiny "eye," however, remained blue. The pick of the plants met with disaster one housemoving day, but enough of the stock was rescued from the wreck to act as the nucleus for future experiments.

Pipe Band for Coronation? A movement is afoot in Timaru to finance sending the Timaru Highland Pipe Band, the Dominion champion combination, to London for the Coronation. . A letter from the Pipe Band executive was received by the. Timaru | Borough Council works committee asking the , council to receive a deputation with a view ■ to calling a public meeting to devise ways , and means of financing the band's tour. The Mayor, Mr. P. C. VinneJl, undertook to preside. The Handshake. The custom of handshaking was a surprising thing to find among the natives of the newly-explored central area of New Guinea, said Dr. R. A. Fortune, distinguished New Zealand anthropologist, when speaking in Christchurch. They had not got it from the Europeans, but probably from the same source that we did, he said. When friends met they would transfer their weapons to the left hand and clasp with the right. So treacherous were these savages that occasionally one would hang on and his companions would then spear his erstwhile friend. Even brothers-in-law would so behave. To Mark the Coronation. Crown acquisition of open lands for parks and of -remaining patches of native bush is suggested by the Christchurch Beautifying Association as a fitting means of mar-king in New Zealand the Coronation of King Edward VIII. This suggestion was put to a meeting of the association by the president, Mr. 11. B. Owen, who said that there were now only a few patches of native bush remaining in Canterbury, and they were deteriorating through the grazing of stock. He thought that the preservation of these areas would be a better means of commemoration than the erection of buildings. Intoxicated Hold-up Men. Just as the Wellington office of the Bank of New Zealand was about to close on a recent afternoon, two men, who are stated to have been in the vicinity for some time, entered the premises and demanded money from Mr. A. Hall, the chief accountant. Both were roughly clad. One was aged about 34 or 35, • and the other about five years older, and both, 1 it is stated, showed signs of liquor, the ; younger being the- worse. After telling the i men it was useless coming to the bank for l money, Mr. Hall left them, and subsequently < they were ejectcd by the caretaker, both going i quietly. i

The Cow as a Compass. How three surveyors, becoming lost in the dense bush surrounding Palmerston North diien returning from a shooting expedition ill ihe Oroua distriet, found their way out again was related liy Mr. R. S. Abraham to the Palmerston North Rotary Club. He stated that they were without compasses, hut were accompanied by a Maori boy and a milch cow, which did duty both as a "pack-horse" and milk supply. Their plight, after they had been wandering for several clays, was becoming serious when the Maori boy had a brain wave. He took the halter off the cow and hustled the animal to the front. With its animal instinct the cow headed straight for home, and the party were back in half an hour at their camp, wlii'-li was situated on wi:at was then the ed<re of the bush where the Palmerston North Boys' High School now si? lids. The New Rich. You might not suppose that th© humble bicycle could be an instrument of easy fortune (says Miss Nelle Scanlan, writing from London 011 September 11), but Torchy Peden, the Oft 2in red-headed Canadian racing cyclist, has made £30,000 in three years' racing. Indeed, five of the men taking part in the cycling race at Wembley this month own their own aeroplanes, and the Wembley race is worth £5000 t£> the winner, apart'from other contracts. In a six days' race these cyclists average 2000 miles during the race, and one shrewd precaution against boredom in such long races is that, in the week, there will be compulsory sprints. Fifteen teams have entered, and they represent twelve nations. Torchy Peden has one world record to himself—he reached 7(ii miles an hour when paced by a. motor car. So it is not altogether easy money if you consider what effort that required.-

Old St. Andrew's. The OGth anniversary of the arrival of Auckland's first immigrant ships, the Duchess of Argyle and the Jane Gifford, with 500 Scottish settlers, falls on October 0. It was fitting that this afternoon should have been the occasion for a field day of the Auckland Historical Society at St. Andrew's Church, Symonds Street, where the pioneer settlers worshipped. The mother church of Presbyterianism, St. Andrew's, is almost as old as Auckland itself. There is a quiet charm about this historic church, with its mantle of creeper. Opened in 1850, St. Andrew's has been a place of worship for four generations. When the Scottish pioneers arrived they clung to the religion of the land they had left behind, and services were commenced by the Rev. William Comrie, Chief Justice Martin granting the use of the Supreme Court, Queen Street. It proved an awkward as well as an odd place in which to hold services, as the ruling elders had to sit in the dock as their bench of honour. Christenings were performed where prisonel-s were sentenced, and marriages were solemnised in the same grim place. Extreme simplicity marked those e:irly services. It is recorded that £105 was subscribed by the congregation—which included Sir George Ore" and officers of the 58th Regiment—on the Sunday which marked the opening of St. Andrew's. The church was two years being built, a*t a cost of £3500, the Rev. A. G. Panton being the first minister. The tower was not built till 1882, and cost an additional £3000.